Most Japanese war planes in the 1920’s were of foreign design either through purchase or made under license and they used the tactics devised by the British in World War I. By October 1941 the Japanese Navy was preparing for war against the United Stated and the primary target at Pearl Harbor was the American aircraft carriers. While this prime target was not there on December 7th, Japanese naval air forces destroyed 8 American battleships and over 250 aircraft and also destroyed the U.S. air forces in the Philippines and rampaged for the next six months in the Wester pacific and Southeast Asia. Om June 1942, the Battle of Midway turned the tide of war. American naval air forces, in a five minute span, destroyed half of the Japanese Navy’s carrier force and killed over 300 experienced pilots. This was a catastrophe from which the Japanese Navy never fully recovered.